Lipstick
by XX heavy.heart
Summary: Abby finally reveals to Gibbs her feelings for him.


Making her way through the bullpen, oblivious to the fact that everyone's concerned eyes were laid upon her, Abby sprinted to the stairs that would lead her to her lab. A river of mascara-tinted tears were streaming down her porcelain face.

As Leroy Jethro Gibbs made his way out of the elevator mere seconds after Abby had left it, every concerned glance changed to a mixture of confusion and anger. Gibbs sat at his desk, delving into some paperwork, hoping that if he acted like nothing happened, everyone would return to their appointed tasks. No such luck.

"What was that about?" asked McGee, a protective tone to his voice.

"Nothing. Get back to work," replied Gibbs.

"Really? Because it didn't look like nothing," Tony quipped.

Ziva chimed in, "I think I'd better go check on Abby and see if she is alright."

As Ziva descended to Abby's lab via the elevator, she noted that there was no music playing…Very unsettling, considering there was always some noise blaring out of the speakers of the stereo. Abby must be very upset.

"Abby?"

"I don't…wanna…talk about it…" Abby said, her voice muffled by the sobs escaping her lips.

"Abby, I am not leaving until you tell me what happened," Ziva stated, hoping that would be enough to coax the truth out of her friend. It worked.

Taking a few deep breaths and calming herself down, Abby began.

"Okay…Ziva…You have to promise me that you won't freak out about any of this. Promise?"

"You have my word."

"Alright, well…for a long time now, I've kind of had these…feelings…for Gibbs. A long time. I'm talking years. We've known each other for a while, y'know? We've gotten to know one another pretty well. I thought that he had feelings for me, too. I felt it. I did. So I finally got up the courage to confront him about it. I was tired of having these feelings and not knowing for sure what he felt for me. So, I just 'happened' to get in the elevator the same time he did. I flicked the emergency stop button. And spilled my guts."

Fully enthralled by the story, Ziva encouraged her, "Okay, go on…"

"I said, 'Listen, Gibbs. I know how you feel about inter-office relationships. I know there's Rule Twelve and all. I don't know how to say this. I don't want you to get all mad at me and I don't want to feel like an idiot. But I need to know.' So he said 'Just say it, Abbs.' So I did. I said 'Gibbs, I think I'm in love with you and I need to know how you feel about that.' He said that he needed time to think about what I'd just said to him. So I panicked and tried to take back everything I said. But it was too late. I blew it. I totally blew it. I ruined everything. He's my best friend and I screwed everything up."

"I'm sure you did not screw everything up, Abby," Ziva said, rubbing her friend's shoulder, "He just needs some time to process. I'm sure it's quite a shock to him."

"No, he's so mad at me, I know it. I broke one of his golden rules. I read all the signs wrong. I saw what I wanted to see. Everything's going to be so awkward now. I should just quit. That's what I should do. I shouldn't be here. I can't be here if he doesn't feel the same. I don't know if I could handle that. Ziva, I think I need some time alone so I can write up my letter of resignation," Abby rambled, her hands trembling and lips quivering.

A gentle male voice said from the hallway, "No need."

"I think this is my cue to leave," Ziva announced.

"Thanks Ziva," Abby replied, and gave her a quick but emotional hug.

As Ziva made her exit, Gibbs stepped further into Abby's lab. Abby began to rush around her lab, going from machine to machine, focusing all of her attention on imaginary tasks, hoping that if she ignored him, he would go away. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. But he didn't go away. He only came closer.

"Gibbs, I don't have any results for you yet."

"I'm not here about results, Abbs."

"Oh, well, why are you here?" she asked, feigning confusion with a furrowed brow.

"Our chat earlier, in the elevator. You don't have to resign, Abby."

"Well, I don't see any other way, really. I know you're not going to, and I wouldn't want that anyway. This is your work, your life, and you need to keep doing it."

"So do you. Abby, listen, I've had some time to think it over, and here's what I've come up with."

Abby stood there, bracing herself and waiting for him to say that he loved her…as a friend…and that he didn't want to lose her, but that he didn't feel the same way she did.

Gibbs didn't say anything at that moment. Instead, he held his right hand chest-high, and made the sign for "I love you" in Abby's direction.

"Well yeah, Gibbs, I know you do. You've told me that plenty of times before. That doesn't really answer my question. Although, I guess it hurts less than hearing the truth. So maybe I don't want to hear the answer to my question. Just forget I even asked, okay?"

"I can't forget. And what I meant to say was not only do I love you, but I'm _in_ love with you. I love you, Abbs. I think I have for a while, I just never wanted to admit it to myself or to you."

Caught off guard, Abby asked breathlessly, "What? But why?"

"You know that I'm a man of my word, and when I came up with Rule Twelve, you know I meant it. I didn't want to go back on that. But when I thought about never being able to tell you how I felt, and to feel your love in return, I didn't think I could take it. So I chose the lesser of two evils," he continued with a smirk.

"I think I'm hallucinating. I think I need to sit down. I need a drink."

Abby walked over to her desk, through the automatic sliding door, and grabbed her Caf-Pow, then took a very long sip. When she was sure she was okay, she looked back out into her lab and there was Gibbs, standing there with a grin on his handsome face, looking at her.

She whispered to herself "Okay, I'm not hallucinating. This is real? This is real…"

Standing up from her chair and bounding over to where Gibbs stood, she opened her arms as wide as she could and gave him a gigantic bear hug, in typical Abby-fashion. Only this time, when she pulled back, Gibbs gently cupped her jaw in his hand, looked into her makeup-smudged eyes, and gave her the sweetest, most gentle kiss she had ever had in her life.

"I love you so much, Gibbs…"

"I love you, too, Abbs…"

Breaking out of the moment, Abby decided she'd better clean herself up. She felt much better now.

"I need to go wash my face in the bathroom. I probably look like such a mess right now. I'll meet you by the elevator?"

"Abbs, you always look beautiful. And yeah, I'll see you there."

After washing the smeared makeup off her face, and applying a new coat of pink lipstick, Abby walked back to the elevator next to her lab. Gibbs was waiting there for her. Lacing their fingers, they walked in together. Halfway up, each of their free hands reached for the emergency stop switch. After laughing in unison, Gibbs let Abby do the honors. The lights went off and the elevator car came to a halt. Like magnets, their lips met for yet another sweet kiss. Gibbs flicked the switch again and both parties went to work straightening their attire as to not draw attention from their co-workers. It was like an unspoken agreement to keep things between them, at least for now. Abby would tell the boys that she was upset about something or other and that she was fine. She would tell Ziva that she and Gibbs had a nice talk and everything was alright, although not necessarily to her liking. And everything would go back to normal.

Striding into the bullpen, Abby was met with the concerned faces of her friends as she suspected.

Simultaneously, Tim and Tony asked "You okay?"

She explained the situation to them (the fabricated situation) and told them she was fine with a genuine smile. Continuing on to Ziva's desk, she leaned in to explain things a little differently to her. Ziva nodded and squeezed the tattooed hand resting on the paperwork in front of her. As Abby leaned nonchalantly against Agent David's desk, Gibbs came walking in. He was greeted by gaping mouths and smiling eyes.

"What's wrong with you all? Have you all lost your damn minds?"

Abby stood up and walked over to her silver-haired fox, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. She leaned in to whisper in Gibbs' ear.

"Nice lipstick."

Abby pulled out her compact mirror and handed it to him. Ziva handed her a tissue. Abby gently wiped her pink lipstick off of Gibbs' mouth and threw the tissue in the trash. She then pulled out the tube that she carried in her pocket and applied a new coat to her own lips. After checking her reflection in the compact, she put it away. Gibbs sat down in his chair and began sorting through the files in front of him.

Walking away, Abby stopped, turned, and said "Hey, Gibbs!"

As he looked up, Abby blew him a kiss.

The rest of the team looked on, disbelief still etched on their faces.

"Back to work or you're all fired!"

A chorus of "Yes boss!" rang out through the bullpen. As everyone scrambled to find something to work on, Gibbs sat back in his chair and smiled.


End file.
